“He appreciated it,” she said with disgust, “like I worked for him or something. Anyway, I was so thrilled that he was doing okay on the inside that I didn’t really think about what he was really saying. Then, last Saturday when I was visiting him, he said that he had something very special planned for us this week and that he would call me and not to be scared. It would be all right.”
“What did you think he meant?” I asked.
“I had no idea, but, to be honest, I was excited. Anyway, I got a call from him on Tuesday night saying for me to come to the institution. He said he worked it out for us to be alone. I was horrified, but I went. I was kind of excited too, you know? When I got there, the officer at the control room said that Captain Skipper was expecting me and to come right in. They didn’t even have me sign in or take my driver’s license or anything.”
I sat in silent shock, not knowing what to say.
“When I got into the sally port, a big man in a white shirt met me and escorted me to the chapel. He wasn’t wearing a name tag. I looked.”
“The chapel?” I asked with surprise.
“Yes. No one was there. It was very dark. The officer told me to go into the sanctuary and wait for Tony. When I got in there, Tony was waiting for me.”
She began to tremble, and her twitch grew worse as she continued her story through her tears.
“He took me from behind, like he was attacking me. He grabbed me and slung me to the ground. At first I didn’t know who it was, but then he started talking, and I knew it was him. He was like an animal pawing at me. I tried to turn around, but he wouldn’t let me. He had my jeans off before I knew it.” She began to cry so hard that she was gasping for breath. “Chaplain, he was whispering the most horrible things in my ear. Words he never used before and saying things he would do to me that he had never done before.”
In every counseling session that I had ever conducted I tried to sit quietly and nod my head as I listened intently. This one had been no different until now. I felt as if I were sitting there with my chin on the floor.
“Why don’t you rest for a minute before going on,” I said as I gave her the entire tissue box this time.
“I,” she sobbed, “must,” she sniffled deeply, “go on. It felt like he put his fist . . . Oh God, this is so hard,” she said.
“Don’t rush it. It’s okay,” I said.
“It felt like he put his whole fist inside me. He was completely out of control. He grunted and cursed and called me the most awful names. It wasn’t like Tony at all. Then, he . . .” she started crying even harder, “ . . . sodomized me,” she yelled at last and continued to cry uncontrollably.
“I am so sorry,” I said. And then we sat in silence for a long time. About five minutes after she stopped crying she spoke again.
“Chaplain, I’m no saint. Tony and I have had sex in every way conceivable, but . . .”
“But, with your consent,” I said.
“He raped me,” she said matter of factly, all her earlier emotion gone.
“There are doubtless many saints who have had sexual intercourse in every conceivable way, so don’t exclude yourself quite so quickly. However, no one should have anything forced on them. I am very sorry.”
“He hurt me, not too bad physically, but real bad emotionally. But the worst thing of all was before he was through, the big officer in the white shirt and two other officers in brown shirts came in. They pulled him off of me and cuffed him. I have never been so scared or humiliated in all my life. It was all like a horrible nightmare. One of the officers jerked me up, told me to get dressed, and then led me to the gate. I heard the other officers saying that Tony would get time in the box for this and that he should be taken for a preconfinement physical.
“I was so disoriented I don’t remember anything else except being in my car about a mile from my house when I saw the bright lights of a truck in my rearview mirror. I sped up, and the truck behind me did, too. When I reached the trailer park, I pulled in quickly, and so did the truck. I parked in front of my trailer, jumped out, and ran toward the door. The truck pulled in behind me, and I heard the truck door open. When I turned around, I saw the big officer in the white shirt running towards me. I dropped my keys, but thankfully I had left the door unlocked. People do that in Pottersville.
“I ran in and locked the door just before he reached it. He tried it. It was locked. Then it hit me-my keys-they were out there on the ground. I put the dead bolt on and the chain. He came back and unlocked the knob, but couldn’t open the door because of the dead bolt. He kicked the door. I could hear him cursing. I ran into the kitchen and called nine-one-one. When I went back, he was gone. When the deputy arrived, I told him that it was a false alarm, but he could tell that I’d been beaten up a little. I think I looked worse than I felt. Anyway, I convinced him that I was okay, and he left. I’ve lived in fear ever since. This is the first time I’ve come out of the house since then.”
“Do you know the name of the officer, the big one in the white shirt?” I asked.
“No. I assumed it was Skipper, but I don’t know. God, he’s a psychopath. You should have heard him laughing at me just before they pulled Tony off me. I wonder how long they were there in the dark watching us.”
“Have you ever seen him before?” I asked.
“No, never. I take it that he is either a captain or a lieutenant because of the color of his shirt, but I couldn’t see his collar.”
“What time did all this take place?” I asked.
“I’m not sure,” she said.
“It’s very important. Was it before or after eleven?”
“Oh, after. It was way after eleven. Why?”
“The shift changes at eleven. So does the shift OIC.”
“While you were at the institution, how many different officers did you see?” I asked.
“There was only one in the control room and then the three in the chapel.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yes. It was eerily quiet that night.”
“I wonder how many officers saw you.” I said, mainly to myself.
“Four,” she said confidently as if I had asked what two plus two equaled.
“More than four. Certainly the officer in Tower One saw you, even though you didn’t see him or her.”
“Oh, I see what you mean. Is it real important?”
“It would give me an idea of how many are involved and how high this goes.”
“What are you going to do?” she asked.
“I’m going to look into it,” I said.
“What should I do?” she asked like a lost little girl.
“You should stay home as much as possible. I’ll ask the sheriff to assign someone to watch you for a while. As soon as I know something, I’ll be in touch.”
“Can you get the sheriff to assign a deputy to me?” she asked, sounding impressed.
“I think so,” I said confidently.
“You are something else, Chaplain,” she said with a puzzled expression on her face.
“No, I’m not,” I said. “I’m just related to him.”
“Oh, I see. Chaplain,” she said, turning deathly serious, “will you please check on Tony for me? I need to know he’s all right.”
“I will.”
“Thank you.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” I said.
“But you will,” she said. “I know it.”
Chapter 18
“What exactly are we doing here?” Anna asked.
We were sitting at the large conference table in the medical break room designed more for meetings than breaks. In fact, it was a conference room with a Coke machine in the back of the medical building. The corridor leading to it led past the steel doors of the suicide cells on one side and the glass walls of the infirmary on the other. I was drinking a can of “pure Florida orange juice,” she a Diet Pepsi, both produced by the vending machine.